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This post is appearing similtaneously on The Two Writing Teachers blog site where I am honoured to be this week's guest blogger. I hope you enjoy reading about brainstorming. I also hope you find strategies here that you can readily apply to your own writing workshops.

Brainstorming is a strategy that has many learning applications. In this post, as guest blogger, I want to specifically look at brainstorming within the context of writing workshop and how we can assist developing writers to use it more effectively.

It would be inaccurate to think of pre-writing as merely brainstorming. From my observations many teachers do, unfortunately. This is not to say that brainstorming is not a critical pre writing skill for young writers to acquire. In fact, it provides an excellent way to deepen student thinking around a new topic. It activates prior knowledge critical to writing success. Brainstorming allows the writer to generate ideas before organizing them. The challenge remains how to do it most effectively.

Many teachers view brainstorming as problematic. They frequently voice concern over what they perceive as student inability to generate ideas when asked to brainstorm as a pre cursor to writing.

What often occurs is that students are asked to think of as many ideas as they can around a topic or idea and the result is a minimal list more recognisable as drizzle than brainstorm. ’How come they can’t do this? teachers ask.

Well, let’s look at what happens when young writers are initially asked to brainstorm. Watching the inexperienced writer ‘brainstorm’ is revealing. They frequently indulge in what might be termed ‘self censoring’ or ‘editing out’ of potential ideas. In other words they think of ideas/ connections and then immediately discount them for fear of writing down the wrong answer. They hesitate for fear of making mistakes. They apply judgments to their ideas before they are even hatched. This apparent lack of confidence or faith in their ideas may also result from choosing a topic they know little about. The resultant list contains predictable responses. It has long been a concern of mine that as teachers we frequently invite young writers to brainstorm, but we omit to show them how this important strategy actually works.

The most experienced, proficient writer in the room needs to step forward at this point of the lesson and reveal the secrets of successful brainstorming. In the same way a magician reveals special magic to the audience, the writing teacher needs to create some sparks around brainstorming.

Let’s begin…

Adopt the notion of ‘show, don’t tell’ when revealing the brainstorming strategy to young writers. Begin by saying, ‘Young writers watch me closely, as I go about my thinking around a topic of interest to me as a writer.’

Then ask the students gathered before you to time you as you document your thinking in front of them. It is important for them to experience your thinking in action. Use a think aloud strategy, so the thoughts in your head are transmitted. After the allotted time, say three minutes, ask them to provide feedback on what they saw you doing, and heard you saying.

You will probably receive comments like:

‘You worked really quickly.’

‘You were concentrating on your ideas.’

‘You made a list.’ (my preferred style for documenting my thinking)

‘You reread your ideas to get new ones.’

‘You wrote down almost everything that came into your head.’

‘You didn’t cross anything out.’

‘You made a long list.’

'You didn’t stop thinking and writing.’

'You asked yourself questions.’

Document the feedback on a chart to draw attention to the brainstorming behaviours, you want noticed.This is such an important part of the process. Then tell them that the next step would be to organize and refine the listed items. Ask them, ‘Do I have to use every listed item?’

They understand that you are not obligated to do this. They also understand that because you have many listed ideas, there are more options at your disposal.

When I demonstrate in this way, I always sense an immediate change in the group. They are ready and primed to try this for themselves. The change is palpable. It is prudent to advise students to choose a topic they feel they know a lot about. -That way students are more likely dive straight in when their turn arrives. The challenge of the blank page just melts away under a flurry of words and phrases, clustering, mind maps, etc. I love it! When teachers see this change take place, they are often astounded that such growth in thinking appears to have taken place in the blink of an eye.

The brainstorming demonstration is without doubt, transformational. It is yet another example of the power of allowing the inexperienced writer to witness, up close and personal, how a particular aspect of the pre-writing process is conducted by a proficient writer. I am never disappointed by the response!

Don’t forget, the aim of brainstorming is quantity, not quality. We want our developing writers to deeply explore their thinking without any judgmental overlay. They should delay judgment until the list is produced. If they do this, something of interest is more likely to bubble to the surface. The lists are far more extensive and the likelihood of divergent thinking is enhanced.

Brainstorming used in conjunction with other pre-writing strategies, greatly enhances the likelihood the writing students produce will be of a higher quality when it eventually appears on the page. Now, that’s a good outcome to pursue!

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Another school year is on the horizon in Australia...To assist teachers launching writing in their classrooms in the early days of the new school year, I offer the following support. Hope you find these ideas helpful in commencing your writing program in 2018.

My sincere hope for this year, is for student writers to encounter teachers who are focused on how to write, rather than what to write. In order for this to occur, teachers of writing must be prepared to commit to being writers too. Writing alongside your students sends a vital message regarding the importance of being someone who chooses to write, and sees value in such acts. it will immediately elevate writing in the minds of impressionable, curious learners. I urge you to be bold and brave. Become the risk taker you want your students to be.

I can say this with full confidence; every teacher possesses the potential to be the most influential writing mentor students will encounter in any school year.

To prepare for the writing that will emerge during the year we need to teach young writers how to find great ideas for writing lying deep inside themselves, before writing about them with focus. We need young writers to think deeply about what they are writing down. We want them to write about the things that matter most to them, -those things closest to the heart.

Encourage young writers to REREAD their initial work efforts to see if they can add more information for their reading audience.

Possible Teaching Points Upon Which to Focus:

•Writers make lists of important memories, people, places which could become story topics.

•Writers often sketch important memories, people, places which could spark an idea for a writing piece. They collect artifacts and ephemera to further stimulate their thinking.

•Writers get ideas for writing from reading lots of books. Books similar in genre/mode to what they are wishing to write.

Writing What You ReadI am acutely aware what I read influences what I write. With that thought at the front of my thoughts today, I find myself reflecting on my summer reading.

It just so happens that during the summer I was fortunate enough to receive two poetry books as gifts and managed to find three more, I purchased myself. All in all it was a rather eclectic collection of poems, to say the least. That fact just added to the appeal.

A Name Means Everything From my study I often hear one of our neighbours calling her dogs in the forlorn hope that they will obey her commands.

Ava and Theo, her two strong willed Pugs regularly pay her no mind. They are her untamed babies, wild and willful. Despite her numerous pleas for compliance they continue to wander and scamper off in directions of their own choosing. ‘Theo, come back now!’ ‘Ava, Ava, no!’ ‘Ava, Theo, come here, right now!’ Those defiant little dogs feign deafness and snuffle away, only returning when good and ready. The pugly truth is they are quite naughty.

I chuckle each time I hear the plaintive cries. Those dogs have the coolest names though. Theo and Ava. With names like that I feel they should be a geriatric couple defying the dimming of their days with age inappropriate behaviour, rather than two tiny Pug dogs. I wonder where those doggy names originated? I’m sure there’s a story there...

Returning ToSpine Poetry Because it is Friday. Poetry is in order. Poetry is always in order, but particularly as the working week ends. I welcome it like wine on the weekend.

To try this poetry idea I grabbed a plentiful supply of books. I went to my personal library, scanned the shelves for suitable titles before arranging them in an order I felt provided some cohesive flow of ideas. This provides some spine splendid viewing fun. It's word play. Spine time. Something all writers need to indulge in, from time to time.

When I was satisfied with the order, I photographed my creations.

Always an easy, fun way to engage young poets, and more experienced poets too, in creating words of wonder and delight.

The top one is brand new. Inspired by some poetry titles in my collection. It has just emerged from the Poet's oven. The other two are earlier creations, re-presented for your viewing/reading pleasure.

People who write get to live life twice - in the moment and in retrospect. That's what sets writers and poets apart. I rarely go anywhere, or do anything without the shadow of my writing self being part of the adventure. Every experience provides opportunities to harvest writing ideas. It is a lens through which to view the limitless possibilities of the moment. I look forward to your responses, feedback and ideas.